It didn’t take me long to realize there was something different about the United Way in Estevan.
I moved to the Energy City in early September 2000, shortly after the United Way had started holding its weekly meetings to prepare for telethon No. 24.
My first assignment with Lifestyles was to call the United Way’s president for that year, Lynn Trobert, and talk to her about the preparations for that year’s show.
I did what most reporters do for their first interview at their first full-time job in a new city: I stumbled and fumbled my way through the questions, and left her probably thinking “Where did they find this guy?”
(Some of you will probably think I still fumble through interviews. But that’s another column for another time).
Six weeks later was the United Way telethon. The United Way reached its goal, which it always did. It was the first United Way in Canada to reach its goal, carrying on a long-standing tradition.
It raised more than $162,000 for the member agencies, and additional funds came in after the broadcast. And the community came together in spectacular fashion to support the agencies. It seemed like everyone in town had be affected, either directly or indirectly, by one of the member agencies.
I wondered why other United Ways in Canada hadn’t tried this system of fundraising, although I recognize the formula would work in smaller cities.
I found it incredible that a city of 10,242 (according to the 1996 census) could raise more than $162,000 in 34 hours, and I fell in love with the telethon that weekend. It’s a love affair that continues 18 years later.
While it seems like just yesterday I was covering the telethon for the first time, it’s been 18 years. And a lot has changed.
The goal is higher and the final fundraising goal is higher. The needs of the member agencies have changed and grown, although many of the organizations that were agencies in 2000 are still receiving support in 2018. There are community impact projects and community partners.
As you can imagine, technology has changed. The cameras are more advanced. The sound equipment is superior.
When I first started covering the telethon, there was a trailer parked in front of the legion where many people worked on the technical end of things. Now much of the equipment is at the back of the legion’s hall.
There wasn’t talk of Facebook, Twitter and other social media streams. Those are now actively used during the telethon. There wasn’t a website. Now there is a website, with a live stream that allows people to watch the telethon from anywhere in the world.
Young people who provided entertainment through the schools during that first telethon have grown up, graduated high school and possibly university (or a trade school), and might have started families of their own. Some might be performing this year as adults. Or they might have children of their own performing.
The bid items have come a long ways, too. It used to be that the United Way would have a couple dozen hand-crafted items set up on a table in an area of the legion.
But in recent years, the popularity of the bid items has soared. You’ll see 80 or 90 items set up this year, and they’re of excellent quality, too. Those bid items make a big difference in the United Way’s ability to reach its goal each year.
I joined the board back in 2006. It’s given me a greater appreciation for the work the United Way does in the community throughout the year, and how much work is actually needed to make a 33-hour broadcast happen. (The telethon was trimmed by an hour a few years ago).
Lynn Trobert is still on the board, and contributes in several different areas. Larry Elash, who was the president the year before I moved to Estevan, is still on the board, too, and finds ways to torment me every year, as long as it can make money.
(Nothing, though, will quite compare with Larry finding a way to ring a gong with my head in 2013, and raising over $800 in the process).
This year’s United Way telethon is Oct. 26 and 27. It’s an event that brings out the best in so many of us. It’s the event that shows the generosity of the community. From those young elementary school students who sing at the start of the telethon, to the senior citizens who have performed year after year for decades, people showcase their talents.
It’s that generosity that leaves the United Way confident in setting such a lofty goal each year; it’ll be $335,000 this year. And it’s that generosity that allows the United Way’s member agencies to deliver services to the community.
If you are new in town, and you drop by the legion to see the telethon for the first time, there’s a good chance you’ll come to love it, too.
